Arts & Culture - The Daily Tar Heel

Museum Maps Ballet's Backstage Action

By Michael Abernethy | Apr. 12, 2002

Every art form deserves its own "Behind the Music" series. Ballet finally gets its turn at a new exhibit at the Chapel Hill Museum that offers a glimpse of a community-run ballet troupe's behind-the-scenes living. "Beyond The Barre: An Exhibit of the Triangle Youth Ballet" will open Thursday at the museum. The exhibit will focus on the hard work of local dancers, set designers, sculptors and seamstresses who have contributed to the nonprofit, community-run ballet's performances of "The Nutcracker."

New Lab! Play Provides Actors Greater Freedom

By Kristen Williams | Apr. 12, 2002

After seeing the Durham-based production company Man Bites Dog perform "Fuddy Meers," Blaine Barbee wanted to put her own stamp on it. Barbee decided to make the play her own by allowing the actors more artistic freedom despite working on a short time schedule. The finished product of Barbee and her cast's experimentation will debut at 8:15 p.m. today at the Elizabeth Kenan Price Theatre --

Local Film Fest Welcomes World-Renowned Director

By Michelle Jarboe | Apr. 11, 2002

The Hi Mom! Film Festival, an annual local event showcasing independent films, kicks off today with a keynote address from the award-winning director of "Gimme Shelter." Opening the slew of Hi Mom! events will be an 8:30 p.m screening today at the Student Union Film Auditorium, presented by documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles. Maysles is best known for his work on 1970's "Gimme Shelter," a controversial documentary of a knifing at a Rolling Stones concert. He will be showing two of his early short films, "Meet Marlon Brando" and "With Love, From Truman."

Ill Harmonics Unleash Christian Rap; Portable Vents

By Staff Editor | Apr. 11, 2002

Ill Harmonics Take Two Three Stars The Christian rap duo Ill Harmonics varies the music on Take Two, its first album after its 2000 debut with An Octave Above the Original. Some songs boast car-shaking bass while others infuse Spanish guitar, maracas and trumpets, making for an atypical rap album. The duo might be Christian rappers, but the songs don't shove God and Bible verses in your face. With a laid-back style, the band comments on faith and destiny and mentions God tactfully.

Raitt Finds Her Career's 'Silver Lining'

By Jenise Hudson | Apr. 11, 2002

Bonnie Raitt Silver Lining 3 Stars More than 30 years after releasing her first album, it seems that Bonnie Raitt still can't get enough of those down-home blues. After a four-year hiatus, the eight-time Grammy Award winner has finally returned to the studio and recorded her newest album, Silver Lining. With an army of writers and a star-studded band (including former Beach Boys drummer Ricky Fataar and bassist James "Hutch" Hutchinson from the Neville Brothers) in tow, Raitt and company make clear their hopes to turn Silver Lining into another best-selling album.

Dive Recommends

By Michael Abernethy | Apr. 11, 2002

Kate Bush, Hounds of Love Bush had Bjork, Tori Amos and the Lilith Fair crowd furiously taking notes when she released her 1985 masterpiece, Hounds of Love. The album is set into two distinct halves. Side one holds the best pop songs she ever penned ("Cloudbusting," "Running Up That Hill"). But it was the daring dream sequence of side two ("The Ninth Wave") that cemented the album's status as the best the '80s had to offer.

Christine Kane Celebrates CD Release at ArtsCenter

By Sarah Kucharski | Apr. 11, 2002

Christine Kane Carrboro ArtsCenter Saturday, April 6 5 Stars Originally hailing from Virginia but currently living in western North Carolina, Christine Kane is the embodiment of country summers, back porch swings and Southern girls. Her voice transposes itself from languidly sauntering through fields of tall grass to exuberantly jaunting across an old wooden dance floor.

Singer/Songwriter Chambliss to Perform at Skylight Exchange

By Shellie Byrum | Apr. 11, 2002

For musicians, setting up shop in Chapel Hill can be good for your musical career. Or at least that's what Ashley Chambliss, a 28-year-old pianist, singer/songwriter, hopes. Chambliss, who is performing at the Skylight Exchange on Friday, is venturing away from the piano bars in and around her town of Asheville and coming to Chapel Hill to develop her career. "The Triangle is an important place to be heard," Chambliss said.

Dave Barry-Based 'Trouble' Partners Wit, Goats

By Nick Parker | Apr. 11, 2002

"Big Trouble" 4 Stars The makers of "Big Trouble," at first glance, took a bunch of random characters, situations and jokes, shook them up and threw the mixture on celluloid. But clearly the finished product is well-written and funny. Or maybe they just got lucky. Born from the twisted mind of columnist Dave Barry, "Big Trouble" is fast, cute and simply hilarious. Like a family-friendly version of "Pulp Fiction," it follows several different characters who weave together in a wild plot that ends up threatening national security.

Classes Weave Together Cooking, Art

By Caroline Lindsey | Apr. 11, 2002

Everybody eats. Whether you slave over a hot stove and let your dinner simmer to perfection or just swing by the Top of Lenoir or the McDonald's drive-through, cooking plays a fundamental role in your dining experiences. It's no surprise, then, that more people are seeking out cooking lessons to make their own dining more enjoyable, to acquire an essential life skill or even to flex a little of their creative muscle.

Pleasing The Palate

By Jenise Hudson | Apr. 11, 2002

Many people tend to think that only two ingredients -- tasty food and sanitary utensils -- are required for a restaurant to garner a well-known reputation. But behind all the shiny silverware and fanciful entrees, a whole other world of culinary creativity exists to make restaurants visually and aesthetically appealing to customers.

Add Some Flair to Your Food

By Staff Editor | Apr. 11, 2002

For most college students, the extent of dorm room culinary capabilities is Ramen, Easy Mac and the elusive (and forbidden) George Foreman grill. But you can't live like this for long, and a meal for a special someone can't always consist of different microwaveable pastas and a hamburger patty off the iMac-colored Foreman. But even if you do make that delectable meal, garnish can turn it from Chef Boyardee to Chef Your-Name-Here. Here is a how-to for some simple garnishes and accent ideas. Shaped Accents

Westfeldt Emerges as New Lesbian Heroine, Spokeswoman For Cosmopolitan Dating

By Aaron Freeman | Apr. 11, 2002

"Kissing Jessica Stein" 4 Stars In the same throbbing vein of "Chasing Amy" and TV's "Will and Grace," "Kissing Jessica Stein" smears the already blurred line between hetero and homo. Writing team Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen, who also star in the film, explore the feasibility and success of homosexuality as an "option" other than an inborn trait.

'Our Town' Features Diverse Cast and Audience

By Jenise Hudson | Apr. 10, 2002

Few plays underscore the importance of cherishing the little things in life as clearly as Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Our Town." The introspective play, which runs through April 28, will bring PlayMakers Repertory Company's 26th theater season to an end. "('Our Town') is an American masterpiece," said PlayMakers' artistic director, David Hammond. "It looks for the meaning in daily life, and people feel a need for that now."

Senior Puts N.C. to Music for Thesis

By Jill Spivey | Apr. 5, 2002

While most people regard home as a location, senior Kelly Burke views it as inspiration. The Greenville native took trips to rural and eastern North Carolina with her family throughout her childhood.

If Walls Could Talk

By Michelle Jarboe | Apr. 4, 2002

The North Carolina Museum of Art's new apocalyptic exhibit might have been a simple effort by museum standards, but there's far more behind each painting than mere hanging devices. Stepping into the "Reverend McKendree Robbins Long: Picture Painter of the Apocalypse" exhibit in progress for the first time was surreal. Instead of a perfectly polished layout of well-lit paintings, elaborate wall labels and milling crowds, a mostly empty room beckoned. Scaffolding on wheels stood in front of the opening painting, a vibrant view of hell dominating an entire wall.

Engine Down Falls Flat Thanks to Awful Vocal Phrasing

By Caroline Lindsey | Apr. 4, 2002

Engine Down Demure Two Stars

Poor Scripting, Lackluster Acting Cuts Success of 'Smoochy' Short

By Aaron Freeman | Apr. 4, 2002

"Death to Smoochy"

Collaborative Dance Event Merges Styles

By Allison Rost | Apr. 4, 2002

The title of this Sunday's dance performance at the ArtsCenter, "Woven: A Dance Partnership," brings to mind stereotypes of New Age, pseudo-hippie sensibilities. But the event will do more than merely pay lip service to this idea. Instead, a collection of dancers throughout the Triangle will perform a variety of pieces, basically weaving the works together to form one coherent whole. Durham dance company Brookerdance is hosting the event. Maureen Jordan, a member of Brookerdance, explained that her company is one of many involved in the production.

Quaid Charmingly Restores Old Baseball Hero, American Dream

By Shellie Byrum | Apr. 4, 2002

"The Rookie"